On 21/1/05 5:00 PM, "Rebecca Seiferle" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Well, I'd guess it depends on what 'an academic" is, which is a second cousin
> to
> that insult heard in some circles of being an 'intellectual'.
I meant simply someone who taught English in a university. Not,
incidentally, a writer, but someone for whom I hold a deal of respect.
Someone like Prynne is inconceivable outside the protective structures of a
university. On the other hand, the idea of career structures or other
aspects of a "cultural industry" are highly problematic in the arts. I'm
not saying that artists should not be paid - far from it. Nor am I
suggesting that poets should not work in universities. I don't go in for
the popular sport of academic bashing. But nevertheless, there is something
feral about the vocation of poetry which ought to be respected and
recognised; it is a bad mistake to think of poetry solely as an aspect of a
liberal education.
> Well, this arguing among poets
> about what to get rid of, whether we should get poetry booted from
> universities,
> or booted from funding by organizations because their reasons may be less
> than pure, etc, seems to me somewhat ridiculous.
Who's saying this?
Best
A
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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